Worley says offense 'progressing well' moving forward

Quarterback Justin Worley prepares to receive a snap from center James Stone in Tennessee's 52-20 win over Western Kentucky at Neyland Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 7.

Tackled as he released the pass, Tennessee quarterback Justin Worley lay flat on Shields-Watkins field, unaware of the end result of the play.

That is, until the fans tipped him off.

"I heard the crowd and they responded," Worley said, "and the refs kind of looked around confused a little bit. I guess they reviewed it, and it was caught."

Freshman wide receiver Marquez North caused the ruckus as he fell to the ground and made a juggling grab for a 20-yard gain in the first quarter of UT's 52-20 win over Western Kentucky.

It stood as the only highlight for UT's passing game in the first half as the Vols racked up points due to a series of WKU turnovers.

North's grab ended up as the No. 3 play in SportsCenter's "Top 10" from Saturday.

"It was good to see," Worley said Monday about the play garnering national recognition.

Also good to see for Worley was UT's offensive progression from its season-opening win against Austin Peay. Though he was statistically underwhelming against WKU, the junior quarterback is pleased with the direction the offense is heading as the Vols prepare to play at No. 2 Oregon this week.

"I think we did some good things in game one, but in game two we said that we really need to step up and take control of the game," Worley said. "In the second half, we really responded. I think we progressed pretty well between game one and two."

Through two games Worley is 22 of 32 for 246 yards with four touchdowns and an interception.

One-one punch

In Butch Jones' three seasons at Cincinnati, his primary running back averaged over four times as many carries as the backup.

Through two games at Tennessee, his top two backs have split the carries far more equally.

Senior Raijon Neal is leading the team with 216 yards on 31 carries while junior Marlin Lane stands as a close second with 22 carries for 136 yards.

"You need more than one running back," Jones said Monday. "In a perfect world in our offense, we need three or four running backs."

Rather than dub them a one-two punch, Jones labeled Neal and Lane "a one-one punch."

"Marlin and Rajion right now are really complimenting each other," Jones said. "The great thing is they're feeding off each other, they're encouraging each other."

The duo has combined for seven touchdowns behind a veteran offensive line and both are averaging more than six yards per carry.

Swamping the television

Tennessee's 3:30 Saturday matchup with Oregon will be televised on ABC with Mike Patrick handling play-by-play.

Looking ahead, the SEC released its television schedule for week four on Monday. The Vols' 3:30 conference-opener at Florida in two weeks will be televised by CBS.

The Gators dropped to No. 18 in the AP poll following their loss to No. 15 Miami. Tennessee's back-to-back road games against the Ducks and Gators are one of two such stretches on the schedule.

"Well it's a great challenge for us and we're asking a lot of our players," Jones said. "You know it's going to be a great challenge but we'll find out more where we're at."